Which is understandable in a season when only two —
The Big Bang Theory and
Modern Family — rank in the Nielsen top 20 and when, before Halloween, people were asking,
“Is
The Michael J. Fox Show still on the air?”

So you might be surprised to learn that laughs can still be found.

Consider these five diverse comedies, all working wonders in and out of the traditional sitcom
framework:

Arrested Development

The loopy saga of the Bluth family languished in the ratings basement at Fox a decade ago.

Veep

The sharpest Beltway satire that the medium has ever seen focuses not on politicians’ power but
on their desperate venality. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays an image-obsessed, perpetually
out-of-the-loop U.S. vice president, riding her incompetent staff (Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt
Walsh) to find her something, anything, that will lend her the veneer of importance.

Last Man Standing

Without bells or whistles, it features just the old home/workplace split (a la
The Dick Van Dyke Show) stocked with sharply drawn characters in conflict. Allen, as a
right-wing crank running a Cabela’s-like store, is a crafty pulling guard. The rest of the ensemble
has remarkable chemistry — even the children.

Sam & Cat

The Nickelodeon show (8 p.m. Saturdays) puts a juvenile topspin on a surefire comic formula that
harks back to Abbott and Costello: a partnership of diametric opposites.

Jennette McCurdy (iCarly) plays the lazy, devious Sam; and Ariana Grande (Victorious), the innocent, idealistic, helium-voiced Cat. Their adept handling of
silliness and physical comedy makes the pair the Laverne and Shirley of their generation.

Drunk History

Adapted from a Web series, the Comedy Central show (returning next year) uses a revolving door
of narrators. Their challenge: to recount a well-known historical tale while soused to the
gills.

Throw out most of what you’ve learned about famous figures such as Lewis and Clark, Billy the
Kid or Patty Hearst because the facts get fairly muddled when your chronicler (Connie Britton, Jake
Johnson, Jack McBrayer, Aubrey Plaza, Kristen Wiig and others) is totally inebriated.